Viva Equip People journeys to Somalia’s frontline

Oketch Mukhwana, a soldier in the Ugandan Army, took part in Viva Equip People when he began working in the children’s department of a military hospital. “We are working with the children of soldiers” Oketch explains, “and there are so many special things about their lives we must understand if we want to help them properly. But before I did not have any experience of working with children, and there was so much I did not know. When I started on this Viva programme it was amazing how my eyes were opened.” Oketch was particularly struck by the module about understanding each child in his or her context, learning what exact risks children face and how to help them thrive despite the problems.

Unfortunately, halfway through the training, Oketch was recalled to Somalia for a peace-keeping mission and had to leave the course. However he insisted that the Ugandan Army send someone else to replace him, saying “we must not miss out on this training. It is so vital.” He visited the Viva Equip People centre in Kampala before he left, to talk to staff about how he could use what he learnt even while he was stationed in Somalia. He said that he would ask to be assigned to a children’s department while he was out there, and vowed to “fight for and protect children’s rights while in Somalia and elsewhere on the frontline”.

“I wish they would make it a policy that every Ugandan army officer working with children undergoes this training” Oketch told us. “And when I am leaving Somalia I will definitely be back to finish this course, even if the army does not pay for me I will come! I hope to be ready for the start of training in March, and I am very excited about it.”